The White Outlaw (1929)

User Rating:

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Director:

Robert J. Horner

Writer:

Robert McKenzie (story)

Release Date:

7 January 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Known as the White Outlaw for the kerchief he wears, Johnny Douglas decides to go straight. Getting...

Cast

Art Acord	...	Johnny Douglas aka The White Outlaw
Vivian Bay	...	Janice Holbrook (as Vivian May)
Bill Patton	...	Ted Williams
Dick Nores	...	Chet Wagner
Lew Meehan	...	Jed Isbell
Betty Carter	...	Mary Holbrook
Al Hoxie	...	Sheriff Ralston
Howard Davies	...	Colonel Holbrook
Walter Maly	...	Deputy Bud Mason
Slim Mathews	...	Joe Walton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert McKenzie	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Fred Parker	...	Bartender (uncredited)
James Sheridan	...	Checkers player (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert J. Horner

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert McKenzie		story

Produced by
J. Charles Davis	....	executive producer
Robert J. Horner	....	producer

Cinematography by
Ernest Laszlo

Film Editing by
William Austin

Other crew
Ralph M. Like	....	presenter

Production Companies

• J. Charles Davis Productions

Distributors

• Exhibitors Film Corporation (USA) (theatrical)
• Grapevine Video (video)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

J. Charles Davis Productions

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Apache Kid's Escape (1930)

Robert J. Horner got a lot of bang for his buck!

I understood the meaning of the title, The White Outlaw, as soon as I read it. In the past I had watched a silent western in which one character says to the other, "That's mighty white of you." The meaning of the word "white" left me a little perplexed, but in discussing it with another wannabe cowboy it was explained that "white" was an old term meaning "good." Since then I have seen the word used in other silent movies and writings from the early 1900's.

Art Acord is the title character in The White Outlaw, and is dressed in a white shirt and hat when he first appears on screen. Johnny Douglas (Acord) is known as the White Outlaw because he is "...a good sport through all his reckless life..." and the white silk scarf he wears when doing his outlaw deeds. The white scarf is central to the movie as it is used for key transitions in the plot. For a cheap movie, the plot of The White Outlaw is interesting. Johnny Douglas decides to go straight and ends up working on a ranch in Texas. Colonel Holbrook has gambling debts to Chet Wagner (spelled "Waggoner" on a collateral note shown in one scene) that can be settled by allowing Wagner to marry his daughter, Janice. Holbrook's foreman, Ted Williams, loves Janice, and Johnny helps Ted save his girl. Much of this became clichéd over the years, but I never expect much from a western.

Early on there is a bit of dialogue that I thought to be unusual for a western hero adventure. In an argument between Johnny and his partner, Jed Isbell (Lew Meehan), Isbell ends his dialogue with "...it's none of your damn business!" That would never have been allowed by the time Gene Autry and Roy Rogers ruled the B westerns. The word "damn" was supposedly controversial when used by Clark Gable in Gone With The Wind.

If I had the time, I would love to look through my Hopalong Cassidy movies to see if the same log cabin used in The White Outlaw was used in a Hoppy that I remember.

In reading more about Robert J. Horner here at the IMDb.com site, I am amazed that I liked The White Outlaw. For all the criticism of Horner's tactics and production values, this movie looks good. A real western setting should not be filled with lavish sets, and exterior/interior discrepancies are just normal for low budget movies. There is actually a well-paced story in The White Outlaw.